


A Path to Trace

by ace_corvid



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: After the portal and before waking up, Choices, Danny in death, DannyMay, DannyMay 2019, Day 1, Gen, Pitch Pearl, Pre-Canon, Temporary Character Death, but very minor and not even slightly shippy, crossing - Freeform, theres just two Danny's in a way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 15:11:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18672175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ace_corvid/pseuds/ace_corvid
Summary: Danny imagines that as he is on the precipice of a choice, he is on the precipice of death, also. These events are undoubtedly intrinsically linked. He could imagine this cold numbness, the detached reality and the comfort of existence replaced with a fuzzy numbness, as death. Life seems so far away. But the other side, across the bridge that lies before him, somehow, is a mix of both, the energy in the air even from here was palpable. It was ridden with vitality, and undeniable life, even in the serenity of death.He doesn't quite let the silence stretch eons, but he knows he could.





	A Path to Trace

**Author's Note:**

> DannyMay Day 1  
> Prompt: Crossing

Danny's eyes fluttered open, and he did not know where he was.

He was aware this should be worrying, concerning even, but the awareness was distant. The feeling was distant. It was as if everything was on mute, like there was a blanket of fuzziness over his own corporeality. He felt out of body, lacking the heaviness of life. It would have been relieving, had he the capability to even remember what relief would feel like in his numb state.

The surroundings are boundless, endless fields behind him, and he is struck with some likeness to the fields of asphodel in the history myths Jaz went through a phase of loving, once upon a memory. They are peaceful, plain and mundane, yet they're enticing in a sense that one could waste away hours in them and not even realize. Directly in front of him however, is a bridge, shaky but wide, stretching over a bottomless chasm seeping into darkness before seeing an end. The land it leads to is hazy and obscured, an unclear path. It seems distinctly green, swamp like and bursting with life. Green goop glowing in a way that was reminiscent of toxic waste hung from trees and clumped in neon puddles, but it seemed... natural. Like there was a balance between this toxicity and the bursting blooms of blossoms and black roses littering the lush grass. He could just make out a path, leading from the bridge, but it didn't look much travelled.

He couldn't recall coming here, and couldn't think to where he could ever have seen it before. It didn't seem like he could dream it.

The last thing he remembered was... electricity? Green, static, pain, lighting flashes and then nothing. Then here. What had even happened to him?

Was he... dead?

He felt like his emotions were melting in horror, fear, confusion, shock, but slightly to the left. He was sure they were there but they were detached, somehow. Belligerent, vigorous, unabashed amounts of indisputable terror, but slightly to the left. Suddenly, he notices a hollow cold in his chest, like there's ice weighing down his lungs and drawing his heart into a frigid wasteland of not beating. Because it isn't. Beating.

Was this the clutches of death slipping it's claws into his skin before dragging his life from his body, or was this the aftermath?

“You're not quite dead, yet. You have a choice to make first.”

The voice is echoing, but strong, and loud. He whirls around towards the fields, but no movement occurs. There's a small breeze, but not enough to make anyone feel anything, barely enough to move the grass; could it even be called a breath? He looks back out towards the bridge, and there is a figure that was noticeably not there before standing half way across, exactly. He has snow white hair, and glowing green eyes. The same green of the goop emitting the faint glow on the other side. Darker skin than Danny, but their faces... they could probably be twins. He is an inversion, and a doppelgänger, but Danny, even if he could feel, would feel a calmness seeing him. He is not alone, even if he is only joined by himself.

“What choice?” Danny's voice is thinner, and reedier than he would have liked, but again, cannot find it in himself to care. The figures face is blank, and his voice is devoid of tone. The only movement he makes is his mouth as the words tumble out.

“To cross the bridge, or to not. You will only get this time to make this choice. Your choice, is final.” Where the breeze is faint where Danny stands, a strong gust of wind falls over the other side as he speaks. Everything over there seems more dynamic, dripping with vitality, although they share a similar tranquillity. They are not the same, nor are they opposed, but they are different. Not quite a dichotomy; more like a mix of one and something he can't quite recall. There were other places, once. The other side, as similar as it is to where he now stands, is also similar to there, in a way the land under his feet will never be. He knows this fundamentally, but he doesn't know how.

He imagines that as he is on the precipice of a choice, he is on the precipice of death, also. These events are undoubtedly intrinsically linked. He could imagine this cold numbness, the detached reality and the comfort of existence replaced with a fuzzy numbness, as death. Life seems so far away. But the other side, across the bridge that lies before him, somehow, is a mix of both, the energy in the air even from here was palpable. It was ridden with vitality, and undeniable life, even in the serenity of death.

“What will happen if I stay?”

“You will stay.”

“And if I cross?”

“You will follow the path.” He speaks with your own eerie voice. “It is not a path many have ever walked; it is not one many ever will. But you should know, though the choice is yours, so is this path. It is your destiny, to both choose and refute.”

He doesn't quite let the silence stretch eons, but he knows he could.

“Is the path a good one to take?” He rasps, and though there is a quietness about him, his voice still carries. A gleam enters his doppelgänger's eyes.

“It is a treacherous path at times, and you will encounter many hardships. But it is the only path you have left to take, and only you can find out when it ends, and what good you will find along the way. It is a half-life, but still, a life”

Danny had not moved before now, and is cautious in this, his terse first step towards the bridge. Another, and he is confident he will not fall. Will not falter. Will take his path.

There was really never any choice at all, he thinks. He was never meant to stay in that field of nothingness, empty and brokenly peaceful, a trap of mundanity and non awareness. The more he walks, further away from the fields, the more he feels, and he once again begins to breathe, and his blood just might flow, and his heart just might beat. The Doppelgänger does not move as Danny breaks into a run, but he grins sharply, and as Danny runs into him, he feels lightning ripping through his veins, the neon sludge choking him and a million green suns burst behind his eyelids but his body does not stop running.

Danny will never be alive again. But he can still live, he thinks, if only a half-life. What else is there to do?

Danny crosses the bridge.

With a deep breath, he takes the first step onto his fated path. Darkness envelopes him and he embraces this darkness, willingly falls into the endless void of an in-between.

And then, he wakes up.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've never done anything like this before, so I hope this works!  
> I really hope you enjoyed!!


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